Final 4 Vs. Fantastic 4

FOR FANS ONLY - Action figure showdown

Starting for Marvel and representing the For Fans Only page, No. 4, Reed Richards!

Welcome to our Weekly Ultimate Challenge. We start off by stating that Bill Walton has led one fantastic life.

First, he averaged 29 points per game for his high school team in California that won 49 straight games. Then he led UCLA to three straight NCAA titles that included a record 88-game winning streak and one of the greatest Final 4 individual performances.

Then he turned pro, grew a beard and wore a bandana, and started following the Grateful Dead around. Along that strange trip, Walton took the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1976-77 NBA title. He capped off his basketball career as a clean-shaven, super sixth man on the Boston Celtics' championship squad of 1985-86.

All of that past glory puts Walton into the Basketball Hall of Fame and gives him the right to say insipid things about the NBA for NBC-TV. This is where Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards, comes in. Unlike us mere mortals, Richards has the skills to muffle Mr. Walton.

Because of that freak cosmic storm in 1961 that exposed him and three rocket crew members to radiation, Richards has the ability to re-form his body in just about any way that he chooses. RR can stretch to about 1,500 feet before the onset of pain (Talk about a shot-blocker!), and he often uses his body to wrap around people that he wishes to detain. Catch our drift? Please Professor Richards, detain Big Red before the next broadcast.

So Mr. Walton, remember that the next time you say something like "Muggsy Bogues belongs in the Basketball Hall of Fame,'' there may be un-four-tunate repercussions.